{
  "slug": "shirts",
  "name": "Button-up shirts",
  "question": "Which button-up shirts have no plastic in the buttons, the collar, the thread or the finish?",
  "status": "nothing-qualifies",
  "updated": "2026-11-11",
  "editor": "alex-minoda",
  "page": "https://amaterio.com/plastic-free/shirts/",
  "summary": "No button-up shirt is on this list yet. We checked American Trench's Natural-Dyed Carl Yak Shirt: 90% cotton and 10% yak wool, dyed with plants, with corozo nut buttons by the maker's word. It stays off because the maker never says what the sewing thread is, and most shirt thread is polyester. The collar interfacing and the mordant are unstated too.",
  "whyPlastic": "Cotton or linen cloth is only part of a shirt. The collar and cuffs are stiffened with fusible interfacing, a polyester or nylon fabric with a heat-activated glue on one side. Buttons are polyester resin, urea or melamine unless the page says shell, corozo, horn, wood or metal. Collar stays are nylon or polypropylene. The thread is polyester or poly-core, and the label is printed polyester. A shirt sold as non-iron or wrinkle-free has a resin finish cured into the cloth, and a stretch shirt weaves elastane into the fabric.",
  "whatToCheck": [
    "Fabric: 100% cotton, linen or hemp, or a blend with polyester or elastane?",
    "Buttons: shell, corozo, horn, wood or metal, or resin?",
    "Collar and cuffs: sew-in interlining, or fusible polyester interfacing?",
    "Collar stays: brass or none, or plastic?",
    "Thread: 100% cotton, or polyester and poly-core?",
    "Finish: untreated, or non-iron, wrinkle-free or stain-resistant?",
    "Label: woven cotton, or printed polyester?"
  ],
  "faq": [],
  "whyNone": "",
  "products": [
    {
      "slug": "american-trench-natural-dyed-carl-yak-shirt",
      "name": "Natural-Dyed Carl Yak Shirt",
      "brand": "American Trench",
      "category": "shirts",
      "tier": "cannot-tell",
      "rank": null,
      "page": "https://amaterio.com/plastic-free/shirts/american-trench-natural-dyed-carl-yak-shirt/",
      "url": null,
      "affiliateUrl": null,
      "price": {
        "amount": 350,
        "currency": "USD",
        "seenAt": "2026-11-11"
      },
      "madeIn": "USA, from imported cloth",
      "inTheBox": "",
      "unknowns": [
        "buttons",
        "sewing thread",
        "collar and cuff interfacing",
        "dye and mordant",
        "labels and tags"
      ],
      "verdict": {
        "summary": "The cloth is 90% cotton and 10% yak wool, dyed by hand with plants in Pennsylvania, and that part reads clean. The buttons are corozo, a nut, by the maker's word. The thread is the gap: American Trench never says what it is, and most shirt thread is polyester. Until the maker names it, the shirt stays off the list.",
        "date": "2026-11-11",
        "passes": [
          "pass-1",
          "pass-2"
        ],
        "agree": true,
        "caveat": "Unknown: the sewing thread, the collar and cuff interfacing, the mordant used in the dye bath, the labels and tags, and the packaging. The maker names the buttons as corozo but gives no further detail, and nothing here confirms they are plain nut."
      },
      "components": [
        {
          "name": "shell fabric",
          "role": "major",
          "material": "90% cotton, 10% yak wool",
          "class": "not-plastic",
          "ruling": null,
          "source": {
            "url": "https://americantrench.com/products/natural-dyed-carl-yak-shirt",
            "quote": "90% Cotton, 10% Yak Wool. Milled in Japan.",
            "translation": "",
            "retrieved": "2026-11-11",
            "archive": "https://web.archive.org/web/20261111213319/https://americantrench.com/products/natural-dyed-carl-yak-shirt"
          }
        },
        {
          "name": "buttons",
          "role": "major",
          "material": "Italian fisheye Corozo, as the maker names them",
          "class": "unknown",
          "ruling": null,
          "source": {
            "url": "https://americantrench.com/products/natural-dyed-carl-yak-shirt",
            "quote": "The Italian fisheye Corozo buttons are an attractive addition, which took to the natural dye well.",
            "translation": "",
            "retrieved": "2026-11-11",
            "archive": "https://web.archive.org/web/20261111213319/https://americantrench.com/products/natural-dyed-carl-yak-shirt"
          }
        },
        {
          "name": "sewing thread",
          "role": "major",
          "material": "",
          "class": "unknown",
          "ruling": null,
          "source": null
        },
        {
          "name": "collar and cuff interfacing",
          "role": "minor",
          "material": "",
          "class": "unknown",
          "ruling": null,
          "source": null
        },
        {
          "name": "dye and mordant",
          "role": "minor",
          "material": "plant-based dye; mordant not named",
          "class": "unknown",
          "ruling": null,
          "source": {
            "url": "https://americantrench.com/products/natural-dyed-carl-yak-shirt",
            "quote": "Using only vats of rain water and plant-based, organic material, each piece is hand-dyed with care and attention.",
            "translation": "",
            "retrieved": "2026-11-11",
            "archive": "https://web.archive.org/web/20261111213319/https://americantrench.com/products/natural-dyed-carl-yak-shirt"
          }
        },
        {
          "name": "labels and tags",
          "role": "minor",
          "material": "not stated",
          "class": "unknown",
          "ruling": null,
          "source": null
        }
      ],
      "packaging": {
        "verified": false,
        "materials": [],
        "class": "unknown",
        "source": null
      },
      "commentary": [],
      "images": [
        {
          "src": "/products/american-trench-natural-dyed-carl-yak-shirt/1.webp",
          "alt": "American Trench Natural-Dyed Carl Yak Shirt",
          "credit": "Photo: American Trench (americantrench.com)",
          "source": "http://americantrench.com/cdn/shop/files/14-CaptureOneCatalog00751_webhi_1024x1024.jpg?v=1793392254"
        },
        {
          "src": "/products/american-trench-natural-dyed-carl-yak-shirt/2.webp",
          "alt": "American Trench Natural-Dyed Carl Yak Shirt",
          "credit": "Photo: American Trench (americantrench.com)",
          "source": "https://americantrench.com/cdn/shop/files/14-CaptureOneCatalog00751_webhi_1024x1024.jpg?v=1793392254"
        },
        {
          "src": "/products/american-trench-natural-dyed-carl-yak-shirt/3.webp",
          "alt": "American Trench Natural-Dyed Carl Yak Shirt",
          "credit": "Photo: American Trench (americantrench.com)",
          "source": "https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0805/5507/files/14-CaptureOneCatalog00751_webhi.jpg?v=1793392254"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}